Program for The Jilt performed by The Gilbert

Brooklyn Academy of Music1888/1888

Brooklyn Academy of Music

This Irish play, described as “a sporting comedy in three acts,” was performed by The Gilbert, an amateur dramatic association. Amateur performing clubs thrived in late 19th century Brooklyn, as an interior program note attests: “In the city of Brooklyn, where society is saturated with artistic instinct, it is only natural that dramatic clubs should abound. There are more than fifty of them.” Another, aptly sporting, note is addressed to “the callow youths who make a Bedlam of the Academy lobby during the progress of a play,” advising them that “the Reception Committee have, for their convenience, secured space on the curbstone in front of the building, where even the thorough-breds will not say neigh to their hoarse talk.”